Team-BHP - Tata Indigo Catches fire

Posting this on behalf of my friend, who owns a Tata Indigo.He had parked the car & had gone for shopping.Few minutes later, he returned to the spot only to see his car burning and people trying to douse it.Later the fire force personnel arrived and extinguished the flames.Witnesses say, they saw smokes coming out from under the hood and it erupted into flames.
Attaching the pictures.Location-Noida.

The car is now at the service center.He's waiting for the aprroval from the insurance company and they have agreed to release only 45% of the total expense (total being 2.4 Lakhs).Almost 20 days now and no progress in repairs so far.

Was it short circuit which caused the fire?
And on what basis did insurance people came to 45% figure? Are we not supposed to get the amount based on the IDV?

what is it with Tata's and fire??
every where you hear news about a car catching fire.Every one assumes that its a Tata.

never mind that.
has the reason for the fire been found out?

Must have been fuel leakage somewhere near the battery, and the Hydrogen helped in burning. Even i suffered same incident few months back.

two questions.
1. @samsag12-where does the hydrogen come from?
2. why has the insurance company only agreed to pay 45% of the total damages? Although I don't have much idea but 45% seems just too low!

see the thick wiring harness that has been destroyed by fire, by the looks, it seems it is due to an electrical short circuit,

Spike

scuderiamania Hydrogen gas is constantly produced by the Battery while charging or if overcharged. You cannot make out whether the gas is present or not. Its highly inflammable and any kind of spark and a little fuel can start fire. So Hydrogen gas is one element which can be the cause of fire. Other thing can be battery explosion. But depends on the condition of the battery. In this case the the reason for fire is clearly not battery explosion as battery has melted down and not cracked. So kind of possibility that short circuit may be the main cause of initial fire.

Kicha, by any chance, had your friend got after-market electrical accessories installed? A horn, autocop, stereo or similar? Most fires I've seen have been caused by improper installation of electronic fittings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kicha (Post 1783685)

Almost 20 days now and no progress in repairs so far.

What repairs are we looking at ? The engine bay is charred. IMO everything has to be replaced with brand new fittings in the bay.

Kicha, lucky your friend did not get injured, since he was away.

Are the interiors burnt too?

Carrying a fire extinguisher in the car may help, I suppose, though the primary action should be to jump ship at the earliest, if caught in a situation like this :Shockked:

What's the reason for the insurance company not coughing up more than 45% for this?

Wow. Seen this happening to an Accent CRDi in my appartment in Gurgaon.

Around 11 PM, we heard some weird sound and inital thought when seeing people running were that some house was on fire.

On going down we saw the accent engine compartment up in flames. Will post pics later.

It was so intesnse, we were unable to open the hood of the car to douse the flames as it got molded to the body of the car. Took about an hour to douse the flames, but thankfully te rest of the car was spared.

Same case, where owner came home, keft his car and 20 minutes later it was up in flames.

Cause not known, atleast by me as we never followed up with the owner